Charlotte County commissioners gave Community Services Director Tommy Scott the green light March 11 to initiate plans to reopen storm-ravaged Englewood Beach.

Storm surge from hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 displaced sand, destroyed dunes and tore up sidewalks, asphalt, the boardwalk and ramps. However, people have continued to visit the beach by parking in the street or nearby areas after sand was sifted and removed from the roadway.

Appearing before the Board of County Commissioners, Scott outlined two options that will run concurrently.

The first option involves partially opening the south end of the beach parking area, with fencing closing it off from the damaged boardwalk. Without dunes and fencing, cars drove directly onto the beach, Scott noted.

Chipped pavement and asphalt in the area of the basketball court has already been smoothed out, and the court can be used until it is resurfaced during the second option.

After being washed away during Helene and Milton, parking bumpers in the parking lot will be replaced at a cost of $2,000, but work will only take a day.

Funding sources for the first option will come from the county and insurance, with no reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Option one will cost the county $10,000 plus $4,000 a month for port-a-lets and $4,000 per month for signage.

Scott said vandals have been removing temporary signage on a nearly daily basis and are regularly being replaced. Permanent signage will be installed during option two.

Once option two’s work has been completed, the park will fully reopen, as the boardwalk, ramps, sidewalk and curbing, stormwater, new basketball court surface and other improvements and replacements will have been made at a projected cost to the county of $323,000 plus $4,000 per month for the port-a-lets and the Property in the Open insurance cost of $23,000.

The timeframe for completion of the projects and a total reopening is five to six months, Scott said.

“We need to get the beach open, good plan,” said Commissioner Ken Doherty, whose sentiments were echoed by his fellow commissioners.

Scott has been working with Charlotte County Transit to have Americans with Disabilities Act compliant buses run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with pickup at the top of the hour from Tringali Park, 3460 N. Access Road in Englewood, to Chadwick Park near the maintenance yard on Manasota Key. Return trips from the Key will be at the bottom of the hour, Scott said.

Yet to be determined is when the transit route will begin.

The urgency to reopen and pay upfront before going to FEMA for reimbursement is due in large part to Englewood Beach’s popularity among locals and tourists. It is a major attraction for visitors to the county, and Commissioner Chris Constance said Tourism Director Sean Doherty said the Tourist Development Tax “is staying flat.”

Constance cited TDT collections of $1,068,000 in January compared to $1,097,000 in January 2024. “So, we’re statistically in the same ballpark,” he said.

However, in subsequent years TDT collections have increased each year.

Constance said he agreed with Doherty’s assertion that “people heard we had a hurricane and kind of changed their plan.”

During the 2023 tourist season, the year after Hurricane Ian, tourism was still strong. Constance noted that while visitors showed up that year, they saw the damage Ian caused and opted to forego visiting Charlotte County the following season.

He said it took Charlotte County 14 years to “close out” Hurricane Charley damages, and now the county is “working with five to six storms.”

“Let’s hope next season we’re better suited and we have a quiet year. The beach opening’s going to help,” Constance said.